The Kelowna General Hospital Physicians Society has issued a statement encouraging the community to get vaccinated.
The statement, issued Wednesday morning, thanked those who’ve already been immunized and encouraged those who have not yet received a COVID-19 shot to do so.
“We, along with the many nurses, allied health, maintenance, housekeeping, food services, and all of the other members of KGH, have been diligently working 24/7 during the pandemic to keep our community safe and healthy,” the statement reads.
It went on to say “The Kelowna General Hospital Physicians Society is asking members of our community to help us in this battle by getting vaccinated.”
“Everybody is affected, not just doctors,” said Dr. Nevin De Korompay, past president of the KGH Physicians Society.
“We’re all getting sick and tired of having to change our lives, but, at the same time, there are still cases, people are still requiring care.”
According to public health officials, there were 146 COVID patients in intensive care at B.C. Hospitals on Wednesday, 45 of them in the Interior Health (IH) region.
Public health officials have maintained that, for the last few weeks, the vast majority of patients in ICU are those who are either unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.
“The people who have not yet been vaccinated, they’re still at risk, at higher risk of COVID, and so we would certainly encourage them to mitigate or lower the risk and get vaccinated,” said Dr. Maurice Blitz, president of the KGH Physicians Society.
According to the provincial government, as of Tuesday, 87.8 per cent of all eligible British Columbians aged 12 and up have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 80.6 per cent have received both the first and the second and are considered fully vaccinated.
“The numbers here are good and I think it shows that there’s a lot of people in and around British Columbia and Canada that are on board with vaccinations and have had vaccinations,” De Korompay said.
“But there are places around the world that have more people vaccinated, so I think there’s always a target that we can aim for.”
While the KGH Physicians Society is well aware that some people remain vaccine-hesitant and have legitimate concerns and questions, it encourages them to discuss it with their primary healthcare providers.
“I think the answers to these questions are involved and complicated, and I would strongly encourage them to talk to their family physician or their primary care provider, who will be able to answer those questions and hopefully help assuage any of those concerns that they might have,” Blitz said.
The society hopes by releasing the statement, more people heed its advice.
“Ultimately, as a society, we feel that if you trust us to care for you when you get sick and you have to come to the hospital, then we hope that you would take that expertise and that advice upfront when you’re not sick to help prevent illness for yourself,” said De Korompay.
The KGH Physicians Society represents about 450 doctors who work at the hospital.
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